Things I Should've Said
by coolgurl4eva
Summary: The only regret I have is that I never told you that I loved you.


A man of medium height and wiry build walked into the Leaky Cauldron. It was difficult to tell who the man was, if indeed the barkeeper would have known him at all, as he had a hood obscuring most of his face. Few people were in the bar that night, most were at home celebrating the tenth anniversary of Voldemort's final defeat by Harry Potter. The only other person, in addition to the aforementioned man and the now ancient Tom the barkeeper, was a female sitting at the opposite end of the bar. It was difficult to tell anything other than her gender, since she too had obscured most of her face. Neither of the occupants had ordered anything stronger than a Butterbeer and a hot meal. "You know, Tom, there are a lot of things I wish I'd told a certain girl I once knew."

Tom nodded as he wiped a glass clean. "Go on, we're all friends here. What would you have told her?"

"I've got a whole list, actually." The man fished in his pocket for a yellowed and tattered piece of parchment, which appeared to have been written in green ink. "_These are all of the things I wish I would have told you back then: _

_When I saw you that day on the train, looking for that stupid toad, I thought you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen, even if you didn't think so_**.**

_I never told you, or anyone else for that matter, that I cried for several nights when you were petrified. Even Ron didn't know…I'd become proficient in Silencing Charms by then. _

_I was never mad at you for getting my Firebolt confiscated. Instead, I was touched that you cared enough about me to do it. _

_I wanted, desperately, to take you to the Yule Ball, but I wasn't quick enough. Unlike Ron, I'd realized you were a girl, and I still thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. _

_I apologize for the way I treated you during Fifth Year. Everything went wrong for me then. Thanks, by the way, for helping me out with grieving for Sirius. I never would have made it through if it hadn't been for you. _

_I should have listened to you about Draco and that whole Snape thing…you were right all along. Back then, I always thought you were right. _

_There were so many things that went wrong on our hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes. The only thing that went right was that I got to spend time with you alone, away from Ron. I cherished those times for years to come. _

_The one regret I have is that I never told you that I loved you. You'll never know, and that's a shame. It could have been good." _The man looked up. Had he been able to see the eyes of the woman, he would have seen the tears that had formed in them.

"I have a list like that. Do you mind if I tell you mine?" The woman tried to conceal the emotion in her voice.

"It's the least I could do, after you listened to me pour my heart out." The man gestured for her to begin.

She pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket. "_When I first saw you in those baggy clothes, sitting with a redhead with dirt on his nose, I recognized several qualities that we shared. We were both the product of hostile environments: you became quiet and I became bossy. _

_You'll never know this, but at all of your Quidditch games, it was Hagrid and I that cheered the loudest. _

_I'm glad it was you, and not Ron, that went back in time with me. If it hadn't been just you and I, Sirius would have died two years sooner._

_I secretly wished that those reports that we were together were true. Rita Skeeter may have been wrong on most things in your life, but that was one I wish she wouldn't have been. _

_I would've willingly taken every single detention Umbridge gave you, if only to stop her from hurting you. _

_I should've listened to you a bit more during sixth year. You were right about Draco. If we wouldn't have been able to save Dumbledore, maybe we could have saved Snape's reputation. _

_I wish that Ron hadn't come back. I had just about worked up the courage to tell you all of this when he appeared again. _

_The one regret I have is that I never told you that I loved you—Ron has known that for a long while, which is why we never married. I wasn't in love with him." _

The man pulled his hood down slowly, and so did the woman. His hair was still as messy and as black as ever. Hers was still curly and the color of honey. Their eyes met for the first time in a decade. "Do you really mean that, Hermione?"

"If you really meant what you said." She smiled at him. He'd missed that smile.

"You aren't going to leave me alone again?"

"I never really meant to do that before."She took his hands in hers. "If you'll have me, I'll stay by your side forever."

He grinned, for the first time in years. "That can be arranged." Now they could celebrate.


End file.
